Freedom From Want

In 1949, I contracted polio at a very young age. Suddenly, I was unable to walk and had to use a wheelchair for mobility. I was the only one in my family who had a disability. In those days, because of my disability, I was denied equal access to education. At the age of five, I could not attend my local public school and was expected to be satisfied with my “good fortune” when the New York Board of Education sent a teacher to my home for 2.5 hours a week for instruction. In fact, when I set out to teach in a New York public high school years later, I was initially denied the opportunity to do so because I in my wheelchair was considered a “fire hazard.” In those days, this was not considered discrimination, but rather that people just didn’t know better. And for those of us with disabilities, we simply had to accept the way the world was – a world where we were marginalized, often invisible, sometimes forgotten.

It is society’s view of all illness. 1, It doesn’t/shouldn’t impact on anyone else around you. 2. Economically activity is the benchmark of recovery. 3. A person’s value and identity is tied only to that economic activity. 4. Illness of any nature should be tidy, undertaken only at appropriate times and got out of the way as soon as possible. 5. We live in the age of medical miracles; you can be cured of anything. 6. If you don’t recover, why aren’t you trying hard enough? 7. Everyone is alike, preferably identical. Please conform. Thanks for writing this. :)

The most insidious thing about trickle-down economics isn’t believing that if the rich get richer, it’s good for the economy. It’s believing that if the poor get richer, it’s bad for the economy.

It’s time to create a narrative where empowerment and assistance can peacefully coexist rather than one meaning the absence of the other. Instead of systems that push for the least number of care hours, the fewest pieces of equipment, and the fewest number of people with a home health aide as a marker of success, we need to start building a world where those who can live without physical assistance do so, and those who cannot, instead of being held to an unrealistic standard that does not reflect their reality, are taught that needing help is nothing shameful.

Someone said that if they “have a new cousin or nephews or nieces in the future and they have special needs, I’ll still love them.” Then someone else commented on his status “How brave of you.”

Your feelings are valid simply because you feel them.